


Catharsis

by orphan_account



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s03e02 Manchester Part II, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-02-15
Updated: 2002-02-15
Packaged: 2019-05-15 19:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The sound of a slamming door was supposed to be cathartic, it was supposed to help ease the anger.





	Catharsis

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

 

Disclaimers: The West Wing and it's characters are the  
property of Aaron Sorkin, Warner Brothers and NBC. No  
copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being  
made from this.

Rating: PG-13

Category: Post-ep to Manchester, Part 1, CJ/Toby  
friendship

Author's Notes: Thanks to AJ for doing a quick beta of  
this.

Catharsis

  


The sound of a slamming door was supposed to be  
cathartic, it was supposed to help ease the anger. At  
the very least it was supposed to be an outlet for the  
anger, but it wasn't. The self directed anger was  
still inside her, deep inside her. She didn't need  
anyone else to tell her how badly she had screwed up.  
She could figure that out on her own quite well. She  
didn't need anyone else to shout at her over the  
snafu, her own internal monologue was much more  
effective than anyone else raising their voice a few  
decibels. She sat down on the couch, it crossed her  
mind for a moment that this time she hadn't broken the  
door. Well that was one thing, at least they couldn't  
charge her for breaking the White House when she  
resigned.

Resignation. That was the first time that word had  
seriously crossed her mind. Oh sure she had jokingly  
said she was quitting a few months ago. Now, resigning  
definitely seemed like the best course of action. Of  
course by resigning she would be leaving the sinking  
ship, but then again it seemed by staying she would  
only cause the ship to sink even faster. She walked  
over to the desk and sat down to start the computer.

Writing a letter of resignation should be an easy  
thing to do, she thought, but she was still sitting  
there staring at the blank page more than an hour  
later. She had started to write the letter multiple  
times, but each time she had deleted it after a line  
or two. There should be an easy way to write that she  
was resigning because she had just committed the most  
colossal screwup in the history of screwups. Or  
perhaps, she could just write that she was leaving  
because she had fucked up one too many times, and this  
time it didn't seem fixable.

Relieved, the President is relieved. She wondered  
how in the name of all that was holy that she could  
have said that. If she were asked what had been going  
through her mind just prior to saying the infamous  
words, she would have no way of answering the  
question. She has no idea what had been going through  
her mind. She was tired, both mentally and physically.  
That wasn't an excuse it was only a statement of fact.

She didn't look up when the door opened. "I knew I  
should have locked it." She mumbled.

"It wouldn't have done any good." Toby said. "I would  
have found someone to open it."

She still hadn't looked up. "Generally when I close a  
door it's because I want to be alone."

"I know that."

"Then why aren't you doing what I want?"

"Do I ever do what you want?" He walked a little  
closer to the desk.

"No."

"When why start now?"

"Because I'm having one helluva bad day."

"Yes."

"It's my own fault."

"How is that?"

"I'm the one who screwed up."

"So you're angry now?"

"At myself?"

"Yeah."

"Hell yes."

"Why?"

"Don't ask that."

"Because you screwed up?"

"Screwed up doesn't even begin to describe it."

"You never screw up like that."

"That's right, I don't."

"CJ."

"Yeah?" She finally looked up.

"You aren't the Pope, you aren't infallible."

"Don't give me that."

"What?"

"If you were the one who screwed this up, you would  
be just as pissed off at yourself as I am right now."

"I won't deny that, and do you know what you would be  
doing?"

"What?"

"The same thing I'm doing right now. You'd be trying  
to talk some sense into me."

"Maybe." She shrugged.

"We both know you would."

"Yeah."

"Okay." He squeezed her shoulder. "We'll fix this."

"I don't think it's fixable."

"We'll make it fixable." He said and left.

She stared at the door, which he had closed back. She  
closed the computer and got up to leave the office.

The end.

 


End file.
